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Moon phase and the rut

Do you plan your bow hunts around the moon phase? Do you think it is better hunting on a full moon or a new moon or does it make a difference? I prefer the new moon to hunt. Seems like I've seen much more daytime (early morning/late afternoon)movement during the five days before & the five days after a new moon. Elk will feed through the night & be back in the timber during the daylight hours during the full moon phase.They are still there, they just don't stay out as late in the am or come out as early in the pm. I guess the next question would be, how much influence does the moon have on the rut?

I always plan my hunts if I can around the darkest nights. I really dislike the moon to be more the half. I do this so the deer and elk will be out feeding more in the daylite hrs and have more of a chance to spot them up moving. I would think if your hunting in the rut it probably doesn't matter since they will be up chasing the lady's constantly.

I think that if I had a choice I would choose to hunt the rut w/ as little moon as possible. The nice thing about hunting the new moon ( no moon) is you can walk in on your game in the dark, if you want to get up that early. I'm not sure they do many things differently during the moon phases if they are rutting. I dont think the moon can turn the rut on or off, I think it is more the weather and cows in heat. I am talking more about the elk rut than deer rut.

I plan my annual deer season 3 days before and 3 days after the full moon in November. And it never fails, for me or my partners, elk seem to be the exact opposite and I agree every bit with the above posts for elk.

This years full moon is very late in November, the latest I have ever remember seeing. It will be interesting... i am calling it now.... Late rut for deer this fall.

the moon phase affects hunters phsychy more than it affects elk behavior imho. elk are elk and do what they do. we just have to be good enough hunters to adapt to daily changes taking place around us. whether that is the moon phase or the weather or whatever affects us and the animals. the way i see it is i can't kill them from the couch. full moon or new moon

the moon phase affects hunters phsychy more than it affects elk behavior imho. elk are elk and do what they do. we just have to be good enough hunters to adapt to daily changes taking place around us. whether that is the moon phase or the weather or whatever affects us and the animals. the way i see it is i can't kill them from the couch. full moon or new moon

I agree...not sure if there's anything to it or if it's just mentally for me - I like to hunt during the dark nights more (both Elk and whitetail)...regardless of moon phase, I pay attention to moon rise/set more and when totally dark for those 6-8 hours leading up to sunrise, morning hunts seem to have a little more action.
But again, I will hunt whenever time allows...

-Matt

"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity"

"Eighty percent of success is showing up"

"If you want to achieve Excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work"

I think everyone is right on!!! I think whether there is a full moon or not, these animals are mostly nocturnal. Of course the full moon lends to these animals being more active because there is more light, especially with snow. I like to hunt around the full moon myself but like others have said, am not sure if it matters. Just adjust to the conditions like trophyhill said and CONQUER!!!!

I recently reviewed my notes from the last 4 or 5 years and we've hunted very close to full moon the first week of Sept most of those years. Generally speaking, we did better after the full moon than we did before, but it is really hard to say. In 2009, the full moon was Sept 4th, and we killed bulls on the 9th and 10th. The moon was still big. On the 10th, we had 7 bulls bugling back in a small canyon. We were in this canyon to carry out the bull we killed the previous evening and thought we would bugle just to see what was what...holy bejebers!